All-Star Gym Loyalty- Does That Exist?

Welcome to our Cheerleading Community

Members see FEWER ads... join today!

May 5, 2018
22
26
I'm sure it's just my naivety to the sport but I am surprised/disappointed that there is so much gym hopping and not more loyalty to a gym. I get it if you are miserable then you need to find a new program but I don't suspect that's often the case. It just seems so ironic that athletes and parents talk all season about "team first" and loyalty but then at tryouts they leave their teams all behind for a shot at a "famous" team.

How can a small D1 gym ever grow when the athletes that they train end up pursuing the large mega-gym programs? These mega gyms attract the best talent and it seems that the small gyms become the training ground for them.

This may be an old song I'm singing but it's new to me and it's bumming me out.
 
I don't believe in that, as much as I'd like to. From where I stand, sometimes you'll prefer a smaller gym to a big one, sometimes opportunities differ (one gym offers tumbling classes, others offer flying classes, etc), sometimes it is a matter of driving, etc... A LOT of factors come into play.

It is business. Some people succeed, some people don't. The biggest gym around here attracts new people every year because they advertise a lot. But there is always the strong group base that stays because they grew as an athlete and they feel like home.

Owners need to sit down and think about what matters the most to the people who come, what they are looking for. As I can see, most people leaving for bigger gyms want the name on the chest first. You can't really help that, and maybe it's not such a bad thing. Our local gym grew bigger this year because they innovated (they offered classes that no other gym around, even big ones, had).

I know I am all over the place, I hope I do make some sense! :p
 
I'm sure it's just my naivety to the sport but I am surprised/disappointed that there is so much gym hopping and not more loyalty to a gym. I get it if you are miserable then you need to find a new program but I don't suspect that's often the case. It just seems so ironic that athletes and parents talk all season about "team first" and loyalty but then at tryouts they leave their teams all behind for a shot at a "famous" team.

How can a small D1 gym ever grow when the athletes that they train end up pursuing the large mega-gym programs? These mega gyms attract the best talent and it seems that the small gyms become the training ground for them.

This may be an old song I'm singing but it's new to me and it's bumming me out.


At the end of the day its a business and the customer has a right to be happy or move to achieve happiness. Most times its kids who grew up and trained at gyms just because of the location but has dreams of cheering for a certain team. Ive seen plenty of kids some who were world champs with there former team move on to other gyms and will tell you its the best decision they have ever made. Sometimes its not about winning but the experience. This happens every year and probably will continue to happen. We also never know what goes on behind the scenes or the atmosphere kids endure year ago that may force their hands to move on to sometimes bigger and better gyms. No one gym is great for every kid in that program. Also kids see former kids from their gym and decide that maybe be e better path for whatever goal they are trying to reach. I most follow TG athletes some from other big name gyms and they rave abut their experiences there.
 
I go to a D2 gym, and we have lots of people leave and go to a D1 gym (not sure if it would be considered a mega gym, they have several locations but I dont think they're huge). A lot of them have hopes of being on a worlds team, and about half do make it there eventually. But a ton of them leave only because of their ambition and get placed on a lower or equal level than the one they would have been placed on if they stayed. In my honest opinion, the majority of our teams are better than the D1 equivalent. So I understand for those who actually got placed on a worlds team, but I definetly agree that it sucks when someone thinks they're better than they are and leave because of it.
 
I think it depends on what you are looking for in a gym and sometimes it takes a few moves to find the right fit. I know some people move because they have a younger athlete with a high skill set and their small gym just can't offer them an age or skill appropriate team. They stay with them until it reaches that point that their kid needs a junior 5 and those are hard to come by sometimes. I've also known parents that moved gyms simply because they weren't happy with a placement and wanted a Worlds team.
Our small gym doesn't offer an over 18 team so there is a chance my athlete could end up at a big gym after she ages out just so she has the ability to keep competing.
 
At the end of the day my loyalty is to my child. If she is unhappy or wants something different that’s what we do. I’m not sticking around anywhere that I don’t feel is a good use of my money/time or where the cons outweigh the pros. It’s a business and I’m entitled to shop around withbout my character being questioned.
 
The longer you stay in the industry, you will realize that the "loyalty" goes both ways. Most coaches will replace their athletes in a second if someone better comes along. No one's spot is guaranteed even after you have prepaid your comp fees and travel. Gyms need to look out for their best interests, but at the same time athletes and parents need to do the same.
I said this in another thread - more often than not small gyms stay small because of poor gym management and sub par coaching. I have seen many small gyms have very competitive programs. If an athlete is being challenged and they are valued, chances are they will stay with their current program. If they aren't then they have every right to go somewhere else.
 
I do believe there are athletes and parents who will go far away, do alot of driving. and move for that team!
Also big gyms will try to entice those athlete from a small gym and promise them the world if they come to them, even though they are over 2 hours away on a good day-it happened to a teamate of my daughters last fall. Personally my daughter was and still is at a small gym that we started at 12 years ago. Love the owners and coaches and most families that have joined thru out the years . Bottom line, I think, is to be at a happy, safe gym and great life lessons are learned from cheer, because cheer is too expensive not to be happy doing what you love.
 
And loyalty can be a detriment at times.

My CP cheered at a rec program from age 4 until age 12. During that time, she stayed out of “loyalty” and believing the slogan. She stayed through a coach who was verbally abusive to her and her teammates out of loyalty to her teammates, and then through three more coach shifts. At the time she left, she had been in the program longer than any other cheerleader at any level. The last season she cheered, she had teammates who were body shaming her as she went through a major growth spurt and was struggling with her tumbling (she gained 6 inches and 20 lbs in a period of about 6 months, and struggled a lot. It was only the fact that I took her to an All Star gym and had her start working with the coaches there, who were very used to early adolescent growth spurts, that kept her from completely losing everything), and who bullied her. The coach not only allowed this to happen but dismissed CP’s concerns.

The coaches at the All Star gym had encouraged CP to come over and cheer with them, and I flat out told CP that she was going to take the Summer off Rec and try out All Star through the team placement process. She fought me because even though she was miserable, she wanted to be loyal to her team. Including those who were bullying her. By the end of placements, she had more friends than she had had on rec since about age 8, and was happier. This season, she evaluated on the first possible date. The gym is her happy place again.

When she told the rec coach she was taking a break, and then that she going to cheer All Star and not come back, no one even asked why. Very obviously, the “Loyalty” was all on CP’s side.
 
It always interesting when gyms/coaches talk Loyalty. Are they turning kids away that are switching from a larger/mega gym (for whatever reason) because they need to be loyal to their previous gym? I doubt it. It's new business.
Probably the same gyms that have clauses in their contracts with stiff Penalites for leaving the program mid season but will bend over backwards prorating a new athlete coming in midseason from a different gym
 
I think each situation is different. I do believe there are some that are gym hoppers because no matter what, the grass always looks greener on the other side. But some situations, enough is enough.

That was us last year. We had been at that gym for 5 seasons. We stayed the previous season or two out of loyalty. Even though it was the definition of insanity. Nothing ever changed. But we stayed. When we finally left last season, initially it wasn't to go to another gym. CP said she needed a break. Now, several of her friends from the gym were leaving to go to another gym. But when we found this out, we said we were staying. It wasn't until CP hit a wall and just was too stressed at the thought of doing the same thing for another season. But after a little bit of a break, she decided she did want to cheer and wanted to tryout at the gym we were tumbling at. It was night and day different once we got in there.

At our old gym, I told the owner he needed to invest in the lower level teams. They were going to be his World's team one day. He need to be in the gym more and pay attention to all the teams, not just the upper level teams. All athletes deserve to be praised and encouraged. These are reasons they left in the masses last year.

So loyalty can go both ways. If I'm going to be loyal to you, give me something to be loyal to.
 
I can't even imagine. I've switched gyms a few times, sometimes even going back to a program I left. It's ALWAYS the athletes who talk badly on me when I leave, never the owners/coaches. Maybe I'm just lucky, but every program I've left has always been kind to me when I see them at competitions, some coaches even watching me on other teams and hugging me when they see me. If the gym talks badly about you and preaches loyalty after you leave, maybe it was a good thing you left.
 
maybe I'm jaded and have been around this sport for way too long, but does loyalty need to exist? You are a customer, the gym is the product. Just like if I signed a year contract to work out at LA Fitness and a Lifetime Athletic opens up across the street with better hours, amenities, trainers, etc. When my contract is up, why wouldn't I switch to the better fit for me? Parents should be loyal to their kid only, and if a gym is no longer fitting your needs, leave. You may learn the grass isn't always greener in the process, or you may find something amazing that you would have missed out on had you thought you had to be "loyal" to another business.

Can't echo what @quitthedrama says enough; if businesses fail or stop growing, they need to work on how they run their business. Your earn your loyalty by providing a superior product.
 
Back